Today ICLEI, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) launched the first widely endorsed standard for cities to measure and report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC) uses a robust and clear framework to establish credible emissions accounting and reporting practices, thereby helping cities develop an emissions baseline, set mitigation goals, create more targeted climate action plans and track progress over time. By using the GPC, cities will also strengthen vertical integration of data reporting to other levels of government, and should gain improved access to local and international climate financing.

The GPC also underpins the global Compact of Mayors, the world’s largest cooperative effort among cities to reduce GHG emissions, track progress and prepare for the impacts of climate change. The Compact – endorsed by preeminent global city networks – has adopted the GPC as part of its core activities to raise the level of ambition and quality of city GHG inventory reporting. Using GPC, cities can report emissions through the carbonn Climate Registry, the Compact’s designated central repository, as well as through existing city reporting platforms such as the CDP.

Gino Van Begin, the Secretary General of ICLEI, said:

As a global city network we support local governments with practical technical guidance and conduct climate advocacy on their behalf in various international forums. We do this to guide their local climate action and achieve ambitious goals. This new Protocol is one of the most strategic documents released this year to support cities and towns across the globe. We hope all local governments will use GPC and report according to this new standard.

WRI, C40 and ICLEI – with the support of the World Bank, UN-HABITAT, and UNEP – jointly developed the GPC over the last three years following the GHG Protocol standard development process. The process included engagement with 29 advisory committee members, more than 200 stakeholders, pilots in 35 cities, and workshops in Beijing, Sao Paulo, Jakarta, London, New Delhi and Dar es Salaam.

Real-world experiences from pilot cities informed the first full GPC released today, including:

Guangdong, China, is using the GPC to analyze its greenhouse gas emissions trends and design a roadmap towards emission peak. WRI China provides training and technical advice to Guangzhou to apply the GPC.

Rajkot, India and seven other Indian cities – home to almost 11 million people – set up their very first GHG inventories using beta versions of the GPC. The GPC guidance has helped Rajkot (one of the GPC pilot cities) plan and implement actions to achieve its 14% CO2 emissions reduction target by 2016 (based on 2011 base year).

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, conducted GHG inventories for 2005 and 2012 as part of the GPC pilot program. With these results, Rio implemented a series of low-carbon transport, waste management, forestry, and energy efficiency projects. So far, these actions have avoided 378,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

Wellington City, New Zealand, participated in the GPC pilot program to develop a GHG inventory for the Wellington Region (including Wellington City and seven other cities) as part of its new climate change action plan to lower GHG emissions by 30% by 2030 and 80% by 2050 (from 2001 levels).

Johannesburg, South Africa, conducted its first ever city-wide GHG inventory using the GPC to establish a 2007 baseline. Total greenhouse gas emissions were estimated at 26.5 million tons of CO2 emissions, 71% of which were from electricity use. Johannesburg is now using this evidence to create a detailed climate action plan.

Going forward, WRI, C40, and ICLEI will organize workshops in cities around the world to train city staff on how to most effectively utilize the GPC to achieve their climate goals. This program will be supported by the World Bank. Additionally, the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities will use the GPC to help implement low-carbon solutions on the ground in cities. The Urban-LEDS project will help the first cities in emerging economy countries to submit GPC-compliant reporting.